Rolling door with releasable guide groove



July 29, 1 J. s. F'OORMAN ETAI. 2,250,604

ROLLING DOOR WITH RELEASABLE GUIDE GROOVE Filed Oct. 20, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I'Ei.

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ROLLING DOOR WITH RELEASABLE GUIDE GROOVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I w HH HHHHW I. HWWw 1 i 5 l v 3 u J a x u um a Filed Oct. 20, 1959 JOELS. P00 8 gALPH h.

Patented July 29, 1941 ROLLING DOOR WIT GROOVE ELEASABLE GUIDE Joel S. Poorman and Ralph H. Greegor, Columbus, Ohio, assignors to The-Kinnear Manufacturing Company, Columbus, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October 20, 1939, Serial No. 300,424 3 Claims. (or. 189- 56) This invention relates to an improvement in door construction, and more particularly to rolling doors such as used for closing openings on trucks, trailer bodies, railway box cars, and the like conveyances.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a slidable door with a releasable hinged guide member whereby the door can be readily freed from its guides, when it has become jammed.

It is another object to provide an improved door construction wherein releasable guide members are installed at both sides of the door which, in case of emergency, can be moved away from the door edges to permit outward movement of 1 the door. 7

Another object is to provide a flexible door curtain having a releasable hinged groove member forming the outside curtain guide portions which can be swung away from the curtain whereby the curtain can be pulled forward to free it from its side guides in case the curtain has become wedged thereagainst.

Another object is to provide a'slidable door member with outer releasable guide means which v ordinarily are locked in fixed position and in the case of emergency can be unlocked and swung away from engagement with the door.

These and other objects and advantages will 7 be apparent as the description proceeds. V

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification:

Figure 1 is an end elevation View of a truck trailer having a rear door equipped with releasable hinged guide members according to this invention door, partly broken away, and taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 7 is a similar sectional view as in Figure 6, showing the outer door guide groove member swung outward in open position;

Figure 8 is an endelevation view of the door, partly broken away, illustrating the releasable groove guide swung outward away from the edges of the door.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there is illustrated in Figure 1 a truck trailer, generally designated l0, mounted for transportation on the chassis II. The trailer is provided with a 'vertically slidable or rolling door 12 which is made up of articulated slats B. The: door is mounted to reciprocate in the groove formed along the edges of the door, the lower outer portion of which isclosed by means of the releasable guide members 14, As shown in Figure 1, the grooveforming outer guide members M are used at both sides of the door opening and extend from the fioorlevel of the trailer body to within to A of the height of the door opening. Above this point the side guide members are fixed.

As shown in Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5, the truck body I0 comprises a frame l5 having the siding l6 and inner lining or bracingl'l. Suitably fixed to the frame upright member l5 and lining l1, adjacent the sides of the doorway, is an angle member. H! which forms the inside guide member for the groove 2i along which the rollers or sliding end portions 22 of the door move during opening and closingof the door. The angle members I 9 are permanently positioned in'place by means 'of screws or bolts as at 2 3 V v Above the releasable outer guide. members M are provided the fixed strip guidefmembers 25 which form the upper part ofthe groove guideway 2!. These members are fixed to the frame I5 by means of the screws 26 or equivalent fastening means, as shown in Figure 5. The guide members l4 and 25 extend into the doorway and form the outer wall for the groove 2|. The outer guide members l4 and 25 may be made of any suitable material such as metal, wood or the like.

door. The outer guide members I4 are equipped with hinges 30 and are adapted. to be swung about the pivot pin 3| outward away from the edge of the door I2 and end members 22 so Preferably when wood is used it is reinforced with outer metal plate such as shown at 21 in order to provide a guide strip which Q is able to withstand the outward thrust of the,

For releasably locking the hinged guide members M in the position shown in Figure 4, which is the normal operating arrangement, the lever 33 is provided which is pivotally secured to the lower end of the member 25 as at 34. A pair of these levers is employed, one for each hinged guide member, as shown in Figure 1. The lever 33 comprises a handle 35 and an intermediate wedge-shaped latch protuberance 36a which is adapted to engage over the hinged portion 31 and abut the stop member 38 on the hinged portion 31, as shown in Figure 4. Lever 33 also comprises an attaching ear member 36 which is adapted to be brought alongside of the member 38 when locking the hinged guide members in place, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6. Members 36 and 38 are provided with cooperating openings 40 and 4|, respectively, which are adapted to receive a lock or sealing means 42 to prevent unauthorized releasing of the guide members I4. The lower end of the door I2 is provided with an angle member 44 and a locking slide bolt 45.

At the upper end of the inner guide angle member l9 there is provided a curved lip guide means 41 which is arranged to guide the flexible door into the groove 2|. The flexible curtain forming the, door I2 is attached at the upper end to the barrel 48 which is preferably counterbalanced by the spring 49 so as to provide an easily sliding door member.

In operationit will be understood that the releasable outside guide groove members I4 are used only in case of-emergency, and under normal operating conditions they will be locked in the closed position to guide the curtain or door .l2. The door preferably is of the spring counterbalanced push-up type operated by means of handles on the'bottom angle of the curtain, as shown in Figures 6 and '7. The door construction is conventional and forms no part of this invention. Obviously various types of doors may be employed of the rolling or sliding groove kind.

Further, it will be appreciated that this invention is adapted for use on doors of buildings, compartments or the like, other than movable vehicles, toprovide an improved door guide construction whereby the door may be readily freed from its guide members in use;

It will be further understood that this invention is not to be limited to the particular details of construction shown but may be varied to suitudifferent conditions and uses.

, Having thus fully described our invention, what tions of said outer door guide members being fixedly secured with respect to said flange and the lower portions being pivotally mounted to swing outward away from the edges of said door to free the lower portion thereof from said groove, and permit the same to swing outwardly from said grooves, while permitting the upper portion of the door to remain in said grooves.

2; An improved door guide construction for a rolling door comprising inner and outer door guide members, said inner door guide members being fixed and the lower portion of said outer door guide members being releasable from the edges of said door to free the same so as to swing outward whereby the lower portion of the door can be moved laterally outward from said door guideway, and means comprising a lever pivotally mounted adjacent the division line between the upper and lower portions of said outer guides having locking means associated therewith for normally maintaining said releasable guide portion in position to guide said door.

3. In combination with a'flexible rolling door, of a-guide therefor comprising fixed flange members extending inwardly from opposite outer sides of the door opening towards the center thereof and adapted to engage the 'rear face of the edge portions of said door, outer door guide members spaced from said flange members in parallel relation thereto and forming therewith grooves within which the side edge portions of the door are guided, the upper portion of said' outer guide members being fixedly secured with respect to their respective cooperating flange members and the lower portion thereof being pivotally mounted to swing outwardly away from said flanges to free the lower portion of the door. and permit the same to swing outwardly away from said grooves while the upper portion of the door is retained in position in said. grooves for guiding the door.

JOEL S. POORMAN.

RALPH H. GREEGOR. 

